Since former lawmakers Patrick Murphy and David Jolly embarked on a nationwide tour to discuss why Congress finds itself in gridlock, the idea of them running a bipartisan ticket to become the next leaders of the sunshine state has gained steam. The plan would be for Murphy to run in the Democratic primary. Should he win, he would pick Republican David Jolly to be his running mate, but now Jolly is commenting on the idea as their window to make that type of run seems to be closing.
Jolly explained that "There’s still some personal decisions that need to get made for two guys who were not planning on running this November. That comes with some real personal reflection probably first and foremost. And then knowing we could accomplish both the fundraising and organizational requirements obviously would be a prerequisite to doing that.”
He went on to note that "It’s clearly under serious consideration but within the context of a timeline that we’re very well aware could have significant influence on a final decision; this all arrived fairly late; or developed fairly late in the process; so we also have to be realistic about what it would mean to try to mount an organized statewide campaign at this late date."
And, although some donors are already lining up to pledge their support should the idea come to fruition, Jolly details that "If you consider every other candidate’s been raising money and up for a year, some of it’s been on TV. We have not been declared candidates nor run a campaign and we would start with a lead. So obviously that’s a significant advantage and one that we don’t want to ignore. It speaks to the fact that people are hungry for this type of bipartisanship in this climate.”
